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Growth retardation and photosynthetic responses of Watermelon plug seedlings exposed to wind stimulation

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Abstract

Plants subjected to mechanical stimulation respond by undergoing morphological changes (thigmomorphogenesis). Wind is an environmental factor that induces mechanical stimulation of plants, affecting their growth and photosynthetic responses depending on its speed. In this study, we evaluated the effects of wind stimulation on watermelon seedlings in terms of wind speed, stimulation time, and application timing. We found that wind stimulation decreases the growth of watermelon seedlings, mainly suppressing their height. Among different wind treatments, the dwarf rate was the highest in the treatment performed at a wind speed of 4 m‧s−1 for 10 h per day. Compactness was the highest in the control treatment with diniconazole, and it increased with increasing exposure to different wind treatments. Low wind speeds, such as 1 m‧s−1, increased the photosynthesis rate and water-use efficiency of the exposed seedlings; however, wind speed of 4 m‧s−1 decreased the photosynthesis rate. Moreover, wind stimulation increased transpiration in watermelon seedlings. Among different plug seedling production stages, wind application after the grafting stage resulted in effective growth retardation of watermelon seedlings. After transplanting, wind stimulation at the plug seedling stage did not have a negative effect on watermelon growth. Thus, wind stimulation can be used as a potential growth retardant for suppressing plant height in watermelon seedlings.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Republic of Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2018R1D1A1B07046858).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Applied Life Science, Graduate School of Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea

    Hyeonwoo Jeong, Hyeri Lee & Seung Jae Hwang

  2. Division of Crop Science, Graduate School of Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea

    Heesung Hwang & Seung Jae Hwang

  3. Division of Horticultural Science, College of Agriculture & Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea

    Seung Jae Hwang

  4. Institue of Agriculture & Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea

    Seung Jae Hwang

  5. Research Institute of Life Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea

    Seung Jae Hwang

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  1. Hyeonwoo Jeong
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  2. Hyeri Lee
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  3. Heesung Hwang
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  4. Seung Jae Hwang
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Contributions

Conceptualization, methodology, and investigation, HWJ, HRL, HSH and SJH; resources and data curation, HWJ, HRL and HSH; writing and editing, HWJ and SJH; funding acquisition, SJH.

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Correspondence to Seung Jae Hwang.

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Communicated by Younghoon Park.

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Jeong, H., Lee, H., Hwang, H. et al. Growth retardation and photosynthetic responses of Watermelon plug seedlings exposed to wind stimulation. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 64, 223–232 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-022-00480-0

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